The Inclusive Innovation Incubator sits on the edge of Howard University in Washington, D.C. It’s a coworking space and incubator for Black and under-resourced founders, in a city struggling with a deep racial wealth gap. Yet, like so many Black-owned innovation spaces hubs around the country, it’s struggling to raise the funds to just keep the doors open.Startup investing has a race problem. Black entrepreneurs receive less than 1% of venture capital dollars in the United States.
In the past few weeks, we’ve all seen investors and tech leaders talk and tweet about the need to close the race gap in venture capital. In3 is perfectly positioned to close some of these gaps. But as In3’s founder Aaron Saunders explained to me in a recent conversation, talk doesn’t always lead to actual resources.
Aaron gave me some more insight into what this looks like. Hiring part-time contractors instead of full-time staff. Doubling down on duties. Aaron not only leads classes at In3, but also runs their social media, and wipes down tables at the end of the day. “We’re constantly resource-constrained,” he said.This is unfortunately a typical story for so many tech hubs run by and focused on entrepreneurs of color.
In their manifesto, BIA’s leaders write that tech hubs are a key tool for closing the racial wealth gap because they serve as the “first line of support” for innovators of color. But they also write that these organizations are “chronically under-appreciated, under-supported, underestimated, and underfunded.” They get praise from local institutions, but not resources. Their leaders get invited to speak on panels but get turned down from grant applications.